1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a conveyor mover and more particularly to a remotely controlled conveyor mover which may be attached to the axle of the conveyor with the mover being selectively movable between operative and transport positions. Even more particularly, this invention relates to a conveyor mover which may be used with an auger type conveyor or a belt type conveyor with the conveyor being adapted to convey particulate material such as grain or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conveyors for conveying particulate material such as grain are normally of the auger type or of the conveyor belt type. In either case, the conveyor includes an elongated conveyor tube having upper and lower ends, including either an auger therein or a conveyor belt which moves upwardly through the conveyor tube and thence downwardly by way of a return portion. The conveyor tube is supported by a framework including a transversely extending axle having a support wheel at each of its ends. When it is necessary to move the conveyor between grain bins or the like, the lower end of the conveyor must be manually raised from its operative grain conveying position so that the grain conveyor may be pulled, pushed or maneuvered to the desired location. The conveyors, whether they are grain augers or belt conveyors, are difficult to manually move.
Many types of devices have been previously provided for moving grain augers between grain bins. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,526,265 and 4,512,687 utilize a farm tractor to move the grain auger but results in a very expensive tractor being tied up. The '265 and '687 patents also require very specialized mounts. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,714,149 and 4,650,058 are very specialized and require specialized mounts. U.S. Pat. No. 7,588,107 utilizes tracks making the conveyor difficult to road transport. U.S. Published Application No. 2002/0125100 A1 discloses an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) for moving a conveyor but an all-terrain vehicle is expensive to purchase and ties up the vehicle for other use. Specialized mounts are also required.
In Applicant's co-pending application Ser. No. 12/930,537 filed Jan. 10, 2011, a grain auger mover is disclosed which is attached to the auger tube near the lower end thereof. Although the grain auger mover of the co-pending application works very well in most situations, there are times when the driven wheels of the mover do not have sufficient traction to move the grain auger since there may not be sufficient weight from the grain auger placed on the driven wheels.